1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a laser handpiece, and more particularly, to a laser handpiece for irradiating the output of a laser generating device onto a predetermined position.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a laser handpiece is for accurately irradiating the output of a laser generating device onto a specific target with the hands. In particular, a laser handpiece as medical devices is used for surgical purposes, such as cutting and coagulating affected parts of a patient by irradiating laser beam thereon.
Laser beams having a wavelength of 1.06 .mu.m or 1.32 .mu.m have been used to operate on soft tissue such as the gums or the skin, other than firm parts such as bones or teeth, and usually a laser fiber of silica is inserted into the laser handpiece it for such purpose. In this case, the laser fiber is installed through the entire length of the laser handpiece such that the laser beam generated at one end of the laser fiber is directly irradiated onto the affected part of a patent.
Meanwhile, a laser beam having a wavelength of 2.94 .mu.m is used to operate firm parts such as teeth or bone, and a laser handpiece for such purpose adopts a laser fiber of sapphire. This is because the general laser fiber of silica cannot normally transmit a laser beam having a wavelength of 2 .mu.m or longer due to its high loss ratio during the transmission.
FIG. 1 shows a conventional laser handpiece used for surgical operation on the teeth or the bone.
The conventional laser handpiece shown in FIG. 1 comprises in a main body 10 a laser fiber of sapphire for irradiating a laser beam output from a laser generating device (not shown), a collimating lens 14 for collimating the laser beam irradiated by the laser fiber 12, a reflective mirror 16 for changing a traveling path of the laser beam output through the collimating lens 14, and a focus lens 18 for focusing the laser beam reflected by the reflective mirror 18.
In the conventional laser handpiece, the traveling path of the laser beam irradiated from the laser fiber 12 is changed using the reflective mirror 16 because the laser fiber 12 of sapphire does not bend much due to its poor flexibility. The reason for changing the traveling path of the laser beam is to allow a user to work more easily with the device.
However, the conventional laser handpiece in FIG. 1 has a straight handle in the main body 10, so it is inconvenient for the user to use the laser handpiece.
In general, the angle of the handle with respect to the main body of the laser handpiece for the convenience grip is in a range between 12.degree. and 140.degree., and for such a design the traveling path of the laser beam must be changed two or more times using two or more reflective mirrors. Changing the traveling path of the laser beam using a reflective mirror gives rise to an aberration. As a result, there is a problem in that the laser beam cannot be irradiated onto one point. Also, changing the traveling path of the laser beam using a reflective mirror increases the size of the reflective mirror because the laser beam strikes the reflective mirror at a predetermined angle. Also, it is difficult to accurately tilt the reflective mirror. As a result, the size of the main body of the hand piece increases, so that there is a problem in that griping the hand piece while working with the instrument is difficult.